I’ve noted before how World War II continues to provide an endless bounty of fascinating stories and inspiration for writing. Perhaps because of this, there hasn’t been much impetus in the English-speaking world to turn its attention away from the battles that the Western powers fought in North Africa, Italy, France and the Pacific. In fact, the only dent made by the war between the Soviet Union and Germany in cultural consciousness that I can remember was the moderately successful movie, Enemy at the Gates, about the Battle of Stalingrad.

One of the great joys of writing historical fiction is doing the research. To be able to shed light on hidden corners and discover things you wouldn’t normally have a chance to.